Companies House Identity Verification: What UK Directors and PSCs Need to Know

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Companies House now requires most directors and people with significant control (PSCs) to verify their identity. This isn’t optional. It’s the law, and it affects how your company can file with Companies House.

The rule started on 18 November 2025. If you’re a new director or PSC, you need to verify straight away. If you’re already a director or PSC, you have some time, but the deadline isn’t the same for every company. It depends on your own company’s confirmation statement date, so it’s worth checking yours now rather than leaving it until the last minute.

This guide explains who needs to verify, when, and how, in plain English.

What Is Companies House Identity Verification?

Identity verification is a check that proves you are who you say you are. Companies House introduced it to stop fraudsters using fake or stolen names to set up companies, or to hide who is really in control of a business.

Before this rule, almost anyone could put any name on the Companies House register, with no real check behind it. That made it easier for people to commit fraud, launder money, or run companies anonymously. Identity verification is part of the government’s wider anti-money laundering effort to close that gap.

Now, before your name appears on the register as a director or PSC, Companies House needs proof of who you are. This keeps the register more accurate and makes it harder to misuse UK companies for crime.

Who Needs to Verify Their Identity?

Two groups need to verify: directors and PSCs. If you’re both, which is common for small company owners, you only verify once, but you need to confirm your verified status separately for each role.

Company Directors

Every director of a UK company needs to verify their identity. This includes:

  • executive directors
  • non-executive directors
  • shadow directors (someone who isn’t formally a director but whose instructions the board is used to following)
  • directors based overseas

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been a director, or how involved you are day to day. If your name is on the Companies House register as a director, you need to verify.

People with Significant Control (PSCs)

A PSC is someone with significant influence or control over a company. You’re likely a PSC if you:

  • own more than 25% of the company’s shares or voting rights
  • have the right to appoint or remove a majority of the board of directors
  • otherwise have significant influence or control over the company

Ordinary shareholders who don’t meet any of these tests don’t need to verify. It only applies if you actually qualify as a PSC, not simply because you hold some shares.

When Do You Need to Verify?

There isn’t one single deadline that applies to everyone. It depends on whether you’re new to your role or already in it.

New Directors and PSCs

If you’re appointed as a director, or you become a PSC, on or after 18 November 2025, you need to verify before that appointment can be accepted. For a brand new company, this means verifying as part of incorporation.

Existing Directors

If you were already a director before 18 November 2025, you don’t need to verify immediately. Instead, you provide your verified personal code the next time your company files its confirmation statement. Because confirmation statements are filed annually and fall on different dates for different companies, your actual deadline depends on your own company’s filing date, not a single fixed date for every business. The 12-month transition period that started on 18 November 2025 ends on 18 November 2026, so every existing director’s deadline falls somewhere within that window.

Existing PSCs

Existing PSCs have their own 14-day window to provide their personal code, and the timing depends on your situation:

  • If you’re a PSC but not a director of the company, your 14-day window starts on the first day of your birth month. For example, if you were born in March, your window opens on 1 March.
  • If you’re a PSC and a director of the same company, your 14-day window starts the day after your company’s confirmation statement date.

You can check your exact dates by signing in to the PSC verification service on GOV.UK.

How Do You Verify Your Identity?

Flow diagram showing the four stages of the Companies House identity verification process. Create account, upload ID, verification check and confirmation.

There are two ways to verify: do it yourself online, or ask someone else to do it for you.

GOV.UK One Login

This is the free, official way to verify yourself online, through the Verify your identity for Companies House service. You’ll need one of the following:

  • a biometric passport (from any country)
  • a UK photocard driving licence
  • a UK biometric residence permit

If you don’t have any of these, you can still verify using your bank or building society details, or in person at a Post Office.

Most people finish this online in about 10 to 15 minutes. Once you’re verified, you’ll get a personal code, explained below.

Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP)

An ACSP is a business registered with Companies House to carry out identity verification on someone else’s behalf. Accountants and solicitors can register as ACSPs, provided they’re supervised by a UK anti-money laundering body.

This route can suit you if you don’t have suitable ID for GOV.UK One Login, you’re based overseas, or you’d simply rather have someone else handle it. You can ask your accountant or solicitor whether they’re a registered ACSP, or find one using the official list Companies House publishes.

What Is a Companies House Personal Code?

Once you’ve verified your identity, Companies House gives you a personal code. It’s an 11-character code, unique to you.

You only need to verify once, even if you’re a director or PSC of several companies. You then use the same personal code every time you need to confirm your verified status, whether that’s for one company or ten.

You’ll find your personal code in your Companies House account, under “Manage account”. Keep it safe, in the same way you’d protect your National Insurance number or your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) from HMRC. You may need to share it with someone you trust to file on your behalf, such as your accountant.

What Happens After You Verify?

Verifying your identity is only the first step. You then need to link your personal code to each role you hold:

  • As a director, you provide your code when you file your company’s next confirmation statement (or as part of an appointment or incorporation filing, if you’re new).
  • As a PSC, you provide your code through the ‘Provide identity verification details for a PSC’ service, within your 14-day window.

Your company can’t file its confirmation statement until all its directors have provided a valid personal code. That’s worth flagging to every director in the business, not just the person who normally handles the filing.

If your details change later, such as your name, date of birth, or address, you may need to verify again to keep your record accurate.

What Happens If You Do Not Verify?

Missing your verification deadline has real consequences, both for you personally and for your company.

The most immediate practical problem is that your company won’t be able to file its confirmation statement until every director is verified. That alone can hold up other filings and create a backlog of compliance issues.

Beyond that, Companies House has confirmed its approach to non-compliance:

  • continuing to act as a director without verifying is an offence
  • this can lead to prosecution and a fine through the courts, or a financial penalty issued directly by the Registrar
  • in serious cases, a director can be disqualified from acting as a director
  • Companies House may add a note against your name on the public register
  • non-compliant directors may be referred to the Insolvency Service

Companies House has said it will take a proportionate approach to enforcement and won’t come down hard on genuine mistakes. But the safest option is simply to verify in good time, well before your deadline arrives.

What Should Companies Do Now?

If you haven’t dealt with this yet, here’s a sensible order to work through it:

  1. List everyone who needs to verify. Check every director and PSC recorded at Companies House for your company.
  2. Check your company’s confirmation statement date. This tells you the latest point by which your existing directors need to have verified.
  3. Check each PSC’s individual 14-day window, based on whether they’re also a director, and their birth month if not.
  4. Decide on a verification route for each person. Some may prefer GOV.UK One Login themselves; others, especially anyone overseas or without suitable ID, may prefer an ACSP.
  5. Verify early rather than waiting. Even though the transition period runs until 18 November 2026, verifying now avoids a last-minute rush if several directors or PSCs need to go through the process.
  6. Keep a simple record of who has verified, their personal code, and which roles it applies to.

For companies managing several directors or PSCs, keeping a clear verification record like this can reduce the risk of a confirmation statement being delayed at the last minute.

Future Phases of Companies House Identity Verification

The rules in this guide currently apply to individual directors and PSCs of UK limited companies. Companies House has confirmed that identity verification will eventually extend further, to cover:

  • limited liability partnerships (LLPs)
  • limited partnerships
  • corporate directors
  • corporate PSCs
  • relevant legal entities (RLEs)

No specific start dates have been confirmed for these groups yet. We’ll update this guide once Companies House publishes further detail.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do all company directors need to verify?

Yes. Every director of a UK company needs to verify, including non-executive and shadow directors, whatever their day-to-day involvement in the business.

Broadly, someone who owns more than 25% of a company’s shares or voting rights, or who can appoint or remove a majority of the board. Ordinary shareholders below that threshold don’t need to verify.

There isn’t one date for everyone. Existing directors must verify by the time their company next files its confirmation statement, within the transition period that runs until 18 November 2026.

Yes, if they’re registered with Companies House as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP).

An 11-character code you get once you’ve verified. You reuse the same code for every director or PSC role you hold, across every company.

No. One verification gives you one personal code, which you use for all your roles.

Your company won’t be able to file its confirmation statement until every director has provided a valid personal code.

You may be committing an offence, which can lead to a fine, a financial penalty, or in serious cases, disqualification from acting as a director.

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Working out exactly who needs to verify, and by when, can get complicated once a company has several directors, PSCs, or filing dates to track. IBISS & CO can help you understand how the Companies House identity verification rules apply to your company, and make sure your confirmation statement and other company secretarial filings stay on track.

If you’re setting up a new company, our company formation service can help you get directors and PSCs verified from the outset. If you already have an established company, our company secretarial services can help keep your filings, including confirmation statements, organised and on time.

This guide provides general information about Companies House identity verification and isn’t a substitute for advice on your company’s specific circumstances. Rules can change, so always check the latest guidance on GOV.UK or speak to your adviser.

Asim Hussain

Asim Hussain

Asim Hussain is a senior accountancy professional at IBISS & CO, having joined the firm in 2014.
He leads the accountancy team and specialises in financial planning, business growth strategies, UK accounting standards, Companies Act compliance and HMRC requirements. His experience spans a wide range of sectors, including telecoms, transport, healthcare and fashion.
Last reviewed: August 2026

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